Building material and building construction



Dec. 15, 1936. K. WENCZEK 2,063,900

BUILDING MATERIAL AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Karl lslenczelr Dec. 15, 1936. w z 2,063,900

BUILDING MATERIAL AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f7 .7 6 7 i y H99 J K /V W W L 4 4 4 K 6/ m i Z,

Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUILDING MATERIAL AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Karl Wenczek, Berlin-Cbarlottenburg, Germany 10 Claims.

The invention relates to new building blocks and to walls, buildings etc. made up of said new blocks.

The invention provides means for building, preferably with the use of light building materials for the building blocks or stones. walls which can not only support their own weight but heavy loads in addition. For this purpose the wall according to the invention consists partly or exclusively of moulded bricks which have one or more hollow spaces running diagonally through them and preferably crossing each other in the same plane, the internal walls of the hollows being formed of suitably arranged hollow cores of sheet metal or other suitable material. The filling introduced into the diagonal channels in combination with the cores, together with any connecting bars or the like inserted for bridging over preferably the horizontal joints between adjacent ends of the cores form a supporting system in the shape of a lattice or grid which confers on the finished masonry an extraordinary degree of strength.

The invention with its further features and advantages will now be described in conjunction with examples shown in the accompanying draw ings, in which Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the new building block in longitudinal section,

Figure la the same in section on the line AB of Figure 1,

Figures 2 and 2a show separately the hollow sheet metal core in elevation and end elevation respectively as used for making the block of Figure 1,

Figure 3 shows a special purpose block corresponding to Figure 1,

Figure 4 shows the sheet metal core used for it,

Figure 5 shows the shape of another special purpose block,

Figure 6 is the sheet metal core used for it,

Figures '7 and 8 represent two walls showing different ways of assembling the blocks.

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view of the wall, taken on line 9-9 of Figure '7.

In the manufacture of the new building block a start is made with hollow cores, preferably made of sheet metalor other suitable material and having the shapes shown by way of example in Figures 2, 2a, 4, and 6 for different kinds of blocks.

Figures 1 and 1a show a block which may be considered as of standard form. The diagonal hollows cross each other according to the invention in the same plane and thus a cross-shaped sheet metal core such as is shown in Figures 2 and 2a can be used for making the block.

The cross-section of the sheet metal core I may be as desired. Usually it will be round, but it may sometimes be elliptic or of other shapes. 5 Figure 2 shows the four arms of the cross of different form as indicated by the cross-sections drawn in. These are some of the possible alternatives.

It is obvious that the cheapness of the new 10 building material is to a great extent determined by the cost of manufacture of the sheet metal core I. It will therefore be advantageous to use for manufacturing these hollow cores the thinnest sheet permissible, and also to use the siml6 plest possible method of manufacture. Such a method of manufacture consists for example in making up the core of two pieces of sheet metal simply cut out or stamped from thin sheet metal and then fixed together by riveting, welding, bending the edges over or other means. The end view of Figure 2a clearly shows two ways of fixing the halves together as described. The joint between the two stamped halves is designated 2. The strength of such a hollow structure is ex- 25 traordinary, even when using the thinnest of sheet metal.

In manufacturing the sheet metal cores as just described stiffening grooves 3 may be applied to the hollow cores when stamping out the sheet metal parts without the cost of a further operation. These grooves serve not only tostrengthen the cores but also key them firmly to the block and subsequently key the binding material in the hollow core. 35

The hollow sheet metal cores just described. which will of course be shaped to suit the particular purpose to which the building block is to be applied (further examples of this will subsequently be given) now have the desired stone or facing material placed round them for making the actual building block. The material to be used clearly depends on the purpose to which the building block is to be applied. Light materials such as pumice grains, coke breeze, granular cork, peat dust, short wood shavings, sawdust and the like may be used in combination with plaster, cement or other binders. Thebuilding blocks are then advantageously made by casting or pressing in a mould. The hollow cores may, however, also be embedded in'clay which is then burnt to form hollow bricks.

Preferably the diagonal hollow spaces are communicating with opposite surfaces of the 55 blocks, said surfaces being situated horizontally in the wall, building etc.

As already remarked at the commencement,

with such building blocks it is possible to build masonry structures which are not only self-supporting but which also have a high capacity for carrying loads. The method of operation in building masonry structures for this purpose is the following:

The building blocks are staggered in building for the purpose of bonding. Care must be taken whendoing so that the diagonal spaces of adjacent blocks are contiguous. After one or more courses have been laid plaster, cement or other binding material is poured into the diagonal arrangement of tubes so formed. The bonding and the strength are improved if before doing so the breaks between the hollow cores 1 at the Joints are bridged over by inserting in the hollows rods 4 of any desired section of iron, wood or some other material or even reinforcing structures of any desired form. Preferably these rods or other members are fairly short as shown in the drawing but they may also run through the whole length of the channels.

Figure '7 shows how modifications of the diagonal hollow core I can be made for specials such as foundation blocks, terminal blocks, corner blocks and the like, so that the hollow space terminates at 5 perpendicularly to the face of the block. In this case the reinforcing members la can be bent to suit the modified form of the diagonal hollow core. I

Reference to Figure 7 will also show how simple it is to combine with masonry made of the new building blocks door and window frames, wall plates and the like. All that is necessary is to attach to the frames 6 or wall plates I or other wooden parts to be connected to the building blocks iron hooks 8 having their inner ends cemented or plastered into the diagonal hollows in the same way as the reinforcing members 4.

In the building shown diagrammatically in Figure 7, only stones on the principle of Figure 1 are used. Figure 8 shows how the diagonal cross bonding according to the invention may be modified as desired, for example by letting blocks according to Figure 1 alternate with blocks according to Figure 5 and ordinary bricks 9. Figure 8 gives only one example of this. The blocks can. of course, also be arranged so that the cross diagonal reinforcements are at a still greater distance from each other,- in which case a correspondingly larger number of building blocks according to Figure 5 and of ordinary bricks 9 is used.

The hollow sheet metal cores or the like inside the blocks have among others the advantage that the binding material can set well inside the cores, since the moisture necessary for hardening is prevented by the sheet metal coating from evaporating or escaping. Of course this also results in very rapid drying out of the finished building.

It has already been pointed out that the connecting reinforcements 4 are of themselves very important for the strength of the masonry, but that it is of no consequence how these reinforcements are made in detail. For example the reinforcements can be replaced by having lugs or projections left at the outer edge of the core when making the same. These lugs are integral with the cores I and are bent up when building with the blocks so that they project into the core of the adjacent block and so in combination with the binding material provide the desired bonding.

The strength of the new masonry is increased to such an extent that where a brick wall of the usual construction 38 cm. thick would be required a wall according to the invention would only need to be 15 to 17 cm. thick. If the building blocks are made of suitable insulating material the insulating property of such a wall of 15 to 17 cm. thickness for heat and cold is at least equal to that of a 38 cm. thick brick wall.

The handiness of the new building block in bricklaying is a very great advantage because the diagonal hollows provide easy means for the bricklayer to grasp the'blocks.

\ In consequence of the extremely great strength of the masonry which can be secured with small expenditure the new method of building is not more expensive than known methods of building, but actually is considerably cheaper.

Any cracking or settling within the walls is impossible, and walls only 8 cm. thick can sustain loads. On these grounds the new method of building is particularly suitable for regions in which earthquakes have to be reckoned with.

It has already been mentioned above that the hollow cores forming the internal walls of the new blocks do not require to be made of sheet metal, although this appears to be the most suitable material. These hollow cores can also be made of other material, such as paste-board or papier-mach. The important point is that the use of such inserted hollow cores facilitates the moulding of the blocks.

In a preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 9, the horizontal sides of the blocks may be provided with recesses or grooves ll, and reinforcing rods III of iron may be embedded in the binding agent inserted in said grooves. Said rods have a length substantially equal to the sum of the lengths of several adjacent blocks. If the wall is subjected to a load, the rods receive tensile forces and prevent a spreading of the lattice girder like reinforcement formed by the binder poured into the channels of the hollow bodies I, so that the reinforcement of the wall is enhanced.

What I claim, is:

l. A building block comprising a comparatively thin walled hollow body embedded in the material forming the block. said hollow body forming channels extending in a direction inclined to the longitudinal axis of the building block and meeting each other, said channels being arranged in substantially the same plane and adapted to register at opposite sides of the block with corresponding channels in a contiguous block.

2. A building block comprising a hollow body embedded in the material forming the block, said hollow body consisting of two halves of sheet metal connected together at the edges and forming channels extending in a direction inclined to the longitudinal axis of the block and meeting each other, said channels being arranged in substantially the same plane and adapted to register at opposite sides of the block with corresponding channels in a contiguous block.

3. A building block. as claimed in claim 2, in which the walls of the hollow body forming said channels are provided with impressions.

4. A building block as claimed in claim 1, in which the end of at least one of said channels extends substantially at a right angle to the side of the block, where the channel opens.

5. A wall comprising building blocks having a comparatively thin walled hollow body embedded in the material forming the block and provided with channels extending in a direction inclined to the longitudinal axis of the block and meeting each other inside of the block, said channels registering at opposite sides of the blocks with corresponding channels of the contiguous block and being filled with a binding material.

6. A wall comprising building blocks having a comparatively thin walled hollow body embedded in the material forming the block and provided with a channel extending through the block in an inclined direction, and building blocks having a comparatively thin walled hollow body embedded in the material forming the block and provided with channels extending in a direction inclined to the longitudinal axis of the block and meeting each other inside of the block, said channels registering at opposite sides of the blocks with corresponding channels of the contiguous block and being filled with a binding material.

7. A wall as claimed in claim 5 having reinforcing means embedded in the binding agent inserted into the channels.

8. A wall as claimed in claim 6 having reinforcing means embedded in the binding agent inserted into the channels.

9. A wall as claimed in claim 5 having blocks, the horizontal sides of which being provided with longitudinal recesses, said recesses being filled with a binder, and reinforcing rods being embedded in said binder.

10. A wall as claimed in claim 6, having blocks, the horizontal sides of which being provided with longitudinal recesses, said recesses being filled with a binder, and reinforcing rods being embedded in said binder.

KARL WENCZEK. 

